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Description:
Report that examines traveler trip lengths across transit modes, work trip duration frequency distributions and mode share distributions in 7 major cities, 8 Combined Statistical Areas and one Metropolitan Statisical Area and found the effects of increasing population and transit mdoe gvariety on work trip travel time and travel distance.

Description:
"The report examines sustainable supply chains in North America and the role played by rail inter-modal operations in lowering ten-mile fuel and emission costs. It examines whether current systems favor imports over exports - a current complaint from some shippers - and whether the development of inland inter-modal ports offers a solution to moving future freight into and out of large metropolitan areas."

Description:
"The main objective of this study was to evaluate the inherent fatigue cracking resistance of asphalt binders in the form of a matrix with rigid particle inclusions. The underlying rational for this approach was to subject the binders to a state of stress that is similar to the one in a full asphalt mixture."

Description:
"The main objective of this study is to report the state-of-the-knowledge on parking regulations and practice influencing the planning, design, and implementation of TOD. The report first offers a narrative review of the published works on TOD-Parking. Based on the review findings it then presents a matrix of best parking practices for TOD."

Description:
"In the United States, passenger rail has always been less competitive than in other parts of the world due to a number of factors. Many argue that in order for a passenger rail network to be successful major changes in service improvement have to be implemented to make it more desirable to the user. High-speed rail can offer such service improvement. With the current administration's allocation of $$8 billion in its stimulus package for the development of high-speed rail corridors and a number of regions being interested in venturing into such projects it is important that we understand the factors and regulatory structure that needs to exist in order for passenger railroad to be successful. This study aims to review how foreign countries have developed and their railroad systems to identify key factors that have contributed to its successful implementation. An evaluation of the factors, such as organization structure, operation, administration, development and type of funding, that are common to each of these projects will used as performance measures to identify potential locations and opportunities for high speed rail projects in the U.S. Southwest region."

Description:
"Using data from an Internet-based survey of residents in three communities in Central Texas-Waco, Temple, and Hillsboro-this research project examined the potential impacts of new intercity passenger rail service on small-or medium-sized communities located in the intermediate area between two larger urban areas that form the endpoints of a federally designated intercity high-speed rail corridor."

Description:
"This project evaluated a package delivery truck, beverage delivery truck, and a refuse ruck. The research determined that the additional cost (with current prices) of the hybrid refuse truck was justified, but not for the other two trucks. The social cost of emissions was also estimated to help justify hybrids' implementation. With this information, the rate of hybrid truck adoption was estimated for various policy scenarios. The results indicated that a correctly designed incentive program can greatly increase the rate of hybrid adoption and could be justified by the additional social benefits of emission reduction."

Description:
"This report proposes a methodological framework that is aimed at assisting highway agencies with the problem of objectively analyzing policy decisions in terms of the performance goals for their highway networks that would minimize the total transport costs to the society."

Description:
"This 2010 study, funded by the Southwest Region University Transportation Center, assesses current regulatory attempts to mitigate climate change and how such proposed action would impact the Texas transportation sector economically. Social and political trends suggest the United States may soon join other United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) countries in drafting substantive, national climate change policy. After providing a brief overview of past and present climate efforts taken both nationally and internationally, this paper explores different economic solutions to address the externalities of fossil fuel emissions. Alternatives include command-and-control regulation, a carbon tax, and a cap-and-trade program. Several factors, including the difficulty of quantifying and constraining greenhouse gas emissions downstream at the vehicle tailpipe, suggest a carbon tax levied upon upstream refiners is the most promising market-based alternative to reduce carbon emissions within the United States's transportation sector. Texas business leaders and lawmakers have repeatedly voiced their disapproval of mandatory national carbon controls over the past decade. A crucial factor why much of the Lone Star State's populace remains opposed to climate change action is Texas leads the nation's energy industry, which is decidedly fossil-fuel based and therefore carbon intensive. Prevailing thought is a carbon tax would only elevate fuel prices increasing the cost of residential and commercial activity heavily dependent on motor vehicles. This paper articulates how greenhouse gas legislation may financially impact transportation within the Lone Star State and concludes with ways energy and environmental policymakers can build consensus within Texas to address the carbon externality."

Description:
"This report examines the potential of Texas-based airports, especially Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport and the Houston Airport System, to emerge as international gateways for global trade in general and trans-Pacific trade in particular. The period covered is 2001 to 2006."

Description:
"The goal of this research was to identify the most effective and efficient combination of NII technologies for inspecting cargo arriving at U.S. ports. For this purpose, a discrete-event simulation model was developed to simulate the cargo inspection procedure. By simulating the operations of different combinations of NII technologies, the effectiveness and efficiency of the various combinations were evaluated."

Description:
"This study aimed to develop prediction models for friction loss and laboratory compaction of asphalt mixtures. In addition, the study evaluated the effect of compaction level and compaction method of skid resistance and the internal structure of asphalt mixtures."

Description:
"The first part of this report relies on stated and revealed preference survey results across a sample of U.S. households to first ascertain vehicle acquisition, disposal, and use patterns, and then simulate these for a synthetic population over time. The second part of this report relies on data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX) to estimate the welfare impacts of carbon taxes and household-level capping of emission (with carbon-credit trading allowed)."

Description:
"The main goal of this report is to investigate the impact of commodity price risk on construction cost and the optimal risk hedging of such risks using price adjustment clauses. More specifically, the objective of the report is to develop models that can help highway agencies manage commodity price risks. In this report, weighted least square regression model is used to estimate the risk premium; both univariate and vector time series models are estimated and applied to simulate changes in commodity prices over time, including the effect of correlation; while genetic algorithm is used as a solution approach to a multi-objective optimization formulation. The data set used in this report consists of TxDot bidding data, market-based data including New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) future options data, and Engineering New-Record (ENR) material cost index data. The results of this report suggest that the optimal risk mitigation actions are conditional on owners' risk preferences, correlation among the prices of commodities, and volatility of the market."

Description:
"U.S. population growth is predicted to substantially increase over the next 40 years, particularly in areas with large regional economies forecasted to contain over two-thirds of the national economic activity. In Texas, population growth from 200 to 2040 is predicted to increase around 72% and produce a diverse population of some 36 million. This will comprise 12% rural and 88% urban, much of it in the 26 metropolitan areas. These population and economic estimates stimulated the exploration of appropriate planning strategies to address the needs of serving such growth, including a macro approach encapsulated in the term mega-regions. Although some planners are skeptical about whether this concept enhances traditional planning, it does merit examination in the freight transportation sector, which tends to get less emphasis in community and regional planning. Texas has at least one mega-region, and the largest-The Texas Triangle, comprising Dallas/Fort Worth-San Antonio-Houston-generates over 60% of the gross stat product. The project will consider the Texas Triangle with an emphasis on maintaining efficient future freight movement and will offer multimodel solutions to moving freight to , between, and within the metropolitan economies of the mega-region to 2050."

Description:
"Traditionally, transportation road networks have been designed for minimal congestion. Unfortunately, such approaches do not guarantee minimal vehicle emissions. Given the negative impacts of vehicle pollutants as well as tighter national air quality standards, it is critical for regions to be able to identify capacity modifications to road networks such that vehicle emission are minimal. This ability combined with land use changes and opportunities for non-auto travel are paramount in helping regions improve air quality."

Description:
"The report focuses on analyzing and modeling the physical activity participation levels ( in terms of the number of daily "bouts" or "episodes" of physical activity during a weekend day) of all members of a family jointly."

Description:
"Reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is becoming increasingly important in the United States, and new legislation can be expected in the near future that will affect trucks either directly or indirectly. This work is a qualitative examination of operational strategies for reducing fuel consumption from freight trucking, and also compares them with vehicular strategies. A focus is placed on who implements, benefits from, and pays for each strategy, and what type of trucking each strategy is applicable to."

Description:
"This thesis seeks to clarify the potential for passenger rail specifically in Texas through comparison and contrast with other regions and nations in the midst of new national-level knowledge and the changing transportation opportunities and challenges facing the state."

Description:
"The goal of this project was to team with the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program in local schools to stimulate student awareness of transportation and engineering careers and to encourage interest in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields."

Description:
"The objective of this research is to provide a more in-depth evaluation and comparison between centralized and decentralized zoning strategies for the city of Houston, Texas, by developing a simulation model to evaluate the effect of zoning strategies on the productivity and service quality for the ADA paratransit service."

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